Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

Ais didn't dodge the giant claw that was closing in on her—she raised her sword to meet it. With a speed that her enemy couldn't match, she swung her slender sword, and a silver line flew past, severing Berg Bear's arm.

The bear-like monster, having lost an arm, froze in place. Ais immediately thrust the tip of her sword at its opponent.

“——”

The slender longsword pierced deep into the center of his chest and through his back.

Before the bear could even let out a dying scream, it gradually lost its pigment and eventually turned into a large amount of dust that collapsed.

Ais silently flicked her sword, making a "whoosh" sound, and the tip of the sword pointed to the ground. Only a few clumps of dust remained around her.

The location is on the 20th floor.

The shape of the tree bark, reminiscent of the interior of a tree, forms a vast labyrinth, while patches of green moss on the ceiling and walls glow irregularly. This tree-like labyrinth, giving the illusion of having wandered into a secret forest, is Ais's current location.

It has been four days since the victory celebration after the expedition. Encouraged by Tiona and the others, Ais has rallied her spirits and has been fighting monsters from morning till night, as if she wants to make up for the time she had wasted by doing nothing before.

Ais often uses her private time to go to the dungeon; exploring labyrinths is practically her hobby. She's long been accustomed to venturing into the middle levels alone like this.

At this moment, she finished her exploration and was about to embark on her journey home.

(...It's so hard to use.)

Having just finished a battle with the monster group, Ais looked down at the slender sword she had borrowed as a substitute.

The weapon's performance was indeed excellent. However, compared to her beloved sword (the Sword of Despair), this sword differed greatly in attack range and weight, especially in strength. The long, thin blade seemed to force Ais to use it with care, making it very awkward to wield.

This made Ais feel as if the blacksmith god (Gubernius) was implying that she should take better care of her weapons, a point she couldn't refute.

(...I need to pick them up.)

Ais sheathed the faintly glowing blade and decided to first retrieve the dropped items that had appeared.

Perhaps because she had spent the entire day holed up in the dungeon, the small pouch on her waist was already crammed full of magic stones, and there wasn't much space left in her cylindrical backpack. Since she simply couldn't fit any more, she had already switched to a "direct attack on magic stones" tactic when facing monsters.

Leaving uncollected magic stones and dropped items carelessly by the roadside is not advisable. Besides preventing other adventurers from getting something for nothing, it might also unnecessarily increase their wariness – as the saying goes, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Ais struggled to stuff "Berg Bear's Paw" into her backpack on the ground.

It was at this moment that she truly appreciated the value of those who offered support. Although Ais had long since taken it for granted, she still felt this way as she slung her backpack over her left shoulder.

"..."

The 20th floor was completely silent; the only sound was the sound of one's own footsteps.

Upon reaching the middle levels, aside from the monsters, the number of fellow adventurers commonly seen in the upper levels decreased significantly. Many novice adventurers were still unable to reach the areas below the 13th level, where the aptitude requirement was LV.2 or higher. Only the occasional roar of monsters could be heard; the sounds of clashing swords and spears were absent.

The hazy phosphorescence of the moss illuminated Ais's profile as she walked alone through the passage.

"...?"

Soon, after she defeated several monsters she encountered,

A group of adventurers emerged from a horizontal cave ahead of Ais.

They dragged huge cargo boxes, wore complete protective gear, and moved without leaving a trace, clearly showing they were all highly capable individuals.

(Ganesha's Familia...)

Seeing the elephant head emblem engraved on the weapon, Ais learned the adventurers' true identities. She also learned what was inside the black iron cargo crate.

They came to capture monsters for the monster festival to be held tomorrow.

The annual festival will be held in the arena. The event involves the Ganesha Familia's tamers dealing with ferocious monsters brought from the labyrinth. The goal is not to defeat them, but to perform the entire taming process for the audience.

Many people have expressed doubts about the guild's planned event. Some worry that while they claim to maintain urban peace, they are actually releasing dangerous elements (monsters) onto the ground, which seems counterproductive; others laugh dismissively, saying it's nothing more than a superficial policy to appease the citizens.

Ais had little to say about the Monster Festival.

She did indeed feel that bringing the monster out of the dungeon was dangerous, but the purpose of the event should have been to serve as a buffer between citizens and adventurers.

This grand festival—a bloodless and clean taming—aims to dispel the urban dweller's perception of adventurers as "problematic figures, unruly outlaws." In order to efficiently recover magic stones (profits) from the dungeon, the guild, from this standpoint, is forced to protect the adventurers.

The Ganesha Familia may also be acting on the will of the main god, assisting the guild purely to please the masses. It is also true that some people even travel from far away from the city to enjoy this event.

Everyone probably has their own plans, but it's still hard to say for sure that what they're doing is wrong. Ais is also an adventurer, and that's what she thinks.

"..."

After glancing over the swaying cargo boxes, Ais changed direction.

In order not to interfere with the Ganesha Familia, she took another route to the upper floors.

■

When they returned to the ground and arrived at headquarters, it was already completely dark.

She bowed to the gatekeeper and asked him to let her in.

Everyone should have already had dinner. Ais carefully watched every corner—almost like exploring a maze, using unnecessary concentration—and walked discreetly down the corridor.

She moved stealthily, making no sound, and immediately took a detour whenever she sensed someone. Ais successfully avoided the puzzled Lefia and moved towards her room on a higher floor of the tower.

"Ais".

Her thin shoulders trembled.

Looking back slowly, she saw Riveria standing there with her eyes slightly narrowed, as if she had anticipated her actions and had been lying in ambush there.

"Where did you go... I guess there's no need to ask anymore."

"..."

The emerald-green eyes scanned from the toes to the top of the fully armed figure.

For a moment, Ais tried to run away, but then gave up. If she did, she would be in for a world of trouble later.

Riveria sighed deliberately.

"I won't tell you not to go to the dungeons. But the expedition has just ended, so take a good rest."

"……Um."

"Honestly, I just saw you were in a better mood, and now you're like this again."

"……sorry."

Perhaps there was a hint of helplessness in that last sentence.

Seeing that Rivera was scolding her like a mother for coming home late, Ais naturally curled up into a ball.

This scene makes it easy to tell which is bigger and which is smaller.

"Ugh... Ouch, Ais and Riveria, what are you doing... Ugh!"

Just as Ais was feeling utterly dejected, Loki happened to pass by.

She staggered, her face pale and sickly. Most alarmingly, she reeked of alcohol.

Riveria, who never drinks alcohol, stared at her god with an incomprehensible look.

"That's what I wanted to say... No, wait, don't come near me, don't come any closer!"

"I just came to get a drink of water... Ugh. Ah—, my head hurts so much... Don't speak so loudly—"

Loki has been like this ever since he returned from the Feast of the Gods.

She wouldn't listen to Finn and the others, only shouting "Don't stop me!" as she drank heavily, ending up with a hangover. To be precise, it was the third day. Apparently, she had intended to mock a certain goddess but couldn't win the argument, and in her frustration, she resorted to drinking to drown her sorrows.

Even Ais couldn't help but keep her distance. At this moment, Loki scratched his head and looked at Rivera.

"So, what are you doing?"

"...Ais went into the dungeon again. And she's only coming back this late."

"Ah—, so that's how it is..."

Loki replied to Riveria, glancing sideways at Ais.

She stared at those golden eyes for a while, then slowly smiled.

"Okay, naughty Ais. As punishment for making me worry, you have to keep me company tomorrow, okay?"

"...?"

"It's a celebration! Will you go on a date with me?"

Loki reeked of alcohol and grinned slackly.

Ais blinked, about to say something, but Loki interrupted her, saying, "You have no right to refuse—"

"This is a good opportunity to clear my head. I was planning to go anyway. Rivera, do you want to come along?"

"...I'll pass. I'm really not comfortable with that kind of festival atmosphere."

"What a pity—I thought I could have two girls on either side... Ouch, ouch, ouch!"

Loki suddenly felt a headache coming on and pressed his temples; as for Ais, she looked at Riveria, but Riveria also gave Ais a look that told her to listen to Loki.

She had planned to go to Gubern's tomorrow to pick up the "Sword of Despair," which should have been repaired... but she couldn't refuse. Besides feeling guilty for having just been reprimanded, most importantly, Ais understood their concern for her.

Ais felt a little guilty, so she decided to agree to Loki's request.

"Alright, Ais, let's meet tomorrow morning—and don't go anywhere else by yourself—"

"I see."

"I should go too... Ais, I have to repeat what I just said, you need to know when to stop."

"Um……"

After saying goodbye to Loki and Riveria, the three parted ways that day.

■

"Huh—, Ais, you're going to the festival with Loki—?"

the next morning.

Tiona came to Ais's room to ask her to go to the monster festival. When Ais refused, Tiona said these words.

"I'm sorry, Tiona..."

"Hmm—well, there's nothing I can do about it. It's my own fault for not asking you sooner. Sigh, Loki beat me to it—"

The sky outside the window is clear and blue, a perfect day to watch the festival. Everywhere you can hear the peaceful songs of birds, announcing the start of a refreshing day.

Tiona, who was standing at the door feeling frustrated, immediately changed her expression and smiled at her.

"Tione and I are heading to East Street soon. If we can meet up there, let's watch the festival together!"

"Um."

Ais smiled faintly, and then went to the grand restaurant with Tiona.

Perhaps still drunk, Loki didn't show up at the breakfast table, just like yesterday, while Tiona and the others left headquarters first.

Ais went back to her room to change her clothes first.

"..."

A cropped top and a mini skirt. It was the outfit Diona gave her.

Seeing myself standing in front of the full-length mirror, I felt more embarrassed than anything else, but this was a gift that someone had specially given me, so how could I not wear it on a special occasion?

Just in case, she tied the sword strap outside her clothes and wore a slender sword for protection.

Although I suddenly became a bit serious, there was no other way. It was supposed to be a date, but since I was going to be traveling with Loki, I should also act as her bodyguard.

After putting on her boots, Ais went to the entrance hall to wait for Loki.

Good morning, Ais. I'm sorry I'm late.

"It doesn't matter."

Seeing Loki stagger into view, Ais stood up from the chair she had been sitting in.

She looked a little weak, but her complexion seemed better than yesterday.

"Hmm? Wow, this outfit...it's really nice! So cute! I never expected to see Ais dressed like this!"

"……Thanks."

"Did you dress up especially for me? Oh my, so cute! It suits you perfectly! Let me hug you!"

Ais reacted instinctively, slapping Loki hard across the face as he lunged at her, sending him flying against the wall. Loki's face was embedded in the wall, followed by a loud thud as something fell to the ground.

Loki covered his face with his hands and rolled on the ground in pain for a while, but finally stood up as if nothing had happened.

"Well, since we've already seen what's under Ais's skirt, let's not make a fuss about it."